tiny little turbines

I read about these tiny plastic turbines in treehugger today – they are so freakin’ cool. I immediately sent the link to my dad and stepmom and stepsister – they kind of live on a compound in the woods, and they need more sustainable energy to truly get compound street cred. In all honesty I must admit that the compound was an accident – my stepsister and her husband sold their house before they bought a new one, and they couldn’t find one that fit their needs, so my stepmom offered to divide her property and stepsis is building a home right next door. See? accidental compound. I’m always joking that I need a place to put my tiny and cute straw bale bungalow but sometimes I think about starting a competing compound with my brother and his girlfriend.

anyway, these microturbines are so exciting! you can put them up as a screen or garden fixture in your yard – they’re not bad looking – and just kind of casually generate energy (I refuse to say “reap the wind”). you can get an array of 20 turbines for about $25, apparently – that’s about 3.35x4ft. That sounds pretty fabulous. Now all I need to know is

1. can you get these made from recycled plastic?
2. how much electricity will be generated from the turbines?
3. How easy would it be to create an array in a sturdy frame for traveling, say, on a camping trip? [besides trying to talk my dad into solar and/or small scale wind power on the compound, I also try and talk him into renewables while they camp at the beach]; and
4. where can I sign up? I want to get some right away!

treehugger links to this plastics news article with more information about the inventor.